Urinary drain bags are often used by healthcare personnel to collect urine from catheterized patients. To permit fluid to be drained from a urinary drain bag, healthcare personnel may open an outlet port at or near the bottom portion of the drain bag. Typically, the outlet port is comprised of tubing which is clamped off to prevent fluid from draining from the drain bag. A healthcare worker may unclamp the tubing to obtain a urine sample.
After taking a urine sample, the healthcare worker may place the clamped tubing into a housing, often called a drain housing or “keeper,” which holds the tubing to prevent it from becoming contaminated. Alternatively, a healthcare worker may place the tubing alongside the drain bag to keep the tube close to the drain bag and away from possible sources of contamination. These practices, however, often allow urine to be spilled, splashed or sprayed onto the healthcare worker as he or she attempts to place the tubing in the housing or to mount the tubing next to the drain bag. Splashing or spraying may also occur when the healthcare worker takes the tubing out of the housing or away from the drain bag to obtain another urine sample.
Therefore, there is a need to provide healthcare workers with an outlet device for urinary drain bags having a valve and shield which reduces the occurrence of spilling, splashing or spraying of urine while at the same time protecting the device from possible contamination. Furthermore, it is desirable that any such outlet device not require additional work by the healthcare worker such as holding a drainage outlet in place while taking a urine sample. While many outlet devices require healthcare workers to use two hands when taking a urine sample to reduce the chance of spilling, splashing or spraying the urine, it is advantageous to have a device that reduces such spilling, splashing or spraying so that only one hand is necessary to obtain the urine sample. This allows healthcare workers to use their other hand to attend to other details while caring for patients.